Welcome to
Religious Recovery
I recently heard of a minister who said to a member of his flock, “If you don’t come back to church, you’re going to hell.” I heard of another minister who, two weeks before the planned date of the wedding, refused to marry a bride and groom because he discovered the bride would be wearing a strapless gown.
Religious abuse abounds. I encounter more and more individuals with stories of hurt, disappointment or abuse from religious leaders or organizations. One woman shared her story of going to confession feeling good about herself and her week, thinking she’d not really done anything wrong. The priest couldn’t fathom a sinless week, and insisted she had to have committed a sin in one way or another. When she still couldn’t recall anything, he became angry and screamed at her. Finally, she made up a sin and confessed it in order to pacify him.
We might be tempted to side with the priest—after all, how can anyone go a whole week without at least some minor sin—but the woman in this story was, at the time, a young child.
People who share their stories with me have often held onto them for years and have rarely, if ever, shared them with anyone else. For some, many wounds have never healed. Have you ever had a religious leader or institution tell you something like:
If so, you’re not alone.
Many people at one time or another experience abuse from religious leaders or organizations. For most people, there seems to be no safe place to release their pain. And, how do we recover from the abuse?
Religious Recovery meets those needs. Imagine gathering for an hour in a safe environment—free from judgment and condemnation—to discuss your hurts, concerns, and fears.
What can be done in an hour? Surprisingly, a lot. Those who are familiar with twelve-step programs understand how valuable one hour a week is to their emotional health. When we spend an hour each week sharing with like-minded individuals, we can help break free from the past and discover there is a healing path for each of us to walk. And, it may or may not lead through the doors of a religious institution.
Religious Recovery is not opposed to religion. In fact, we believe that religion has the greatest potential to bring us back to The Divine if only we can let go of our differences and return to the basics of love, forgiveness, understanding, and tolerance, and to embrace one another as members of one global community.
Religious Recovery is not a religion. We have no churches, ministers, priests, rabbis, or shamans. The meetings are led by volunteers. We gather anywhere we can find inexpensive meeting space—including churches. Religious Recovery does not endorse or oppose any church or religion. Our goal is spiritual healing and growth as defined by the individual—not by a set of rules or doctrines.
Join a Religious Recovery group today, or help us create one where you live
I recently heard of a minister who said to a member of his flock, “If you don’t come back to church, you’re going to hell.” I heard of another minister who, two weeks before the planned date of the wedding, refused to marry a bride and groom because he discovered the bride would be wearing a strapless gown.
Religious abuse abounds. I encounter more and more individuals with stories of hurt, disappointment or abuse from religious leaders or organizations. One woman shared her story of going to confession feeling good about herself and her week, thinking she’d not really done anything wrong. The priest couldn’t fathom a sinless week, and insisted she had to have committed a sin in one way or another. When she still couldn’t recall anything, he became angry and screamed at her. Finally, she made up a sin and confessed it in order to pacify him.
We might be tempted to side with the priest—after all, how can anyone go a whole week without at least some minor sin—but the woman in this story was, at the time, a young child.
People who share their stories with me have often held onto them for years and have rarely, if ever, shared them with anyone else. For some, many wounds have never healed. Have you ever had a religious leader or institution tell you something like:
- “You’re wrong and if you don’t straighten up [and believe as I/we believe] you’re going to hell.”
- “You’re not good enough.”
If so, you’re not alone.
Many people at one time or another experience abuse from religious leaders or organizations. For most people, there seems to be no safe place to release their pain. And, how do we recover from the abuse?
Religious Recovery meets those needs. Imagine gathering for an hour in a safe environment—free from judgment and condemnation—to discuss your hurts, concerns, and fears.
What can be done in an hour? Surprisingly, a lot. Those who are familiar with twelve-step programs understand how valuable one hour a week is to their emotional health. When we spend an hour each week sharing with like-minded individuals, we can help break free from the past and discover there is a healing path for each of us to walk. And, it may or may not lead through the doors of a religious institution.
Religious Recovery is not opposed to religion. In fact, we believe that religion has the greatest potential to bring us back to The Divine if only we can let go of our differences and return to the basics of love, forgiveness, understanding, and tolerance, and to embrace one another as members of one global community.
Religious Recovery is not a religion. We have no churches, ministers, priests, rabbis, or shamans. The meetings are led by volunteers. We gather anywhere we can find inexpensive meeting space—including churches. Religious Recovery does not endorse or oppose any church or religion. Our goal is spiritual healing and growth as defined by the individual—not by a set of rules or doctrines.
Join a Religious Recovery group today, or help us create one where you live
